African

slender neck without the rings seen in early sepias,
full lips neither enigmatic nor known,
eyes darker than her lashes
and blacker than the fountained braids
rising above her headband
 
               and when you mimic me your accent is too strong
               I am Zulu not Afrikaans and when you come
               home with me at Xmas it will be very hot
               but you must wear a suit to show respect
               for my mother and you cannot sleep with me
 
a languid wisdom inhabits every glance,
every decision, and when music plays
she moves nothing except her wrists,
bending them rhythmically downwards,
casually clutching all the sex in the world
 
               I am beautiful inside as well as out
               and when I go back I even give them
               my panties because we are poor and if
               I were a virgin you would pay a thousand
               pounds for me and when I was a child
               I walked like an old woman but I am
               holding my shoulders back for you because
               I am glad you took me out though I don’t think
               you will come home with me at Xmas

Ken Champion

first published in Obsessed With Pipework 24, 2003, ISSN: 1367-9147;
in collection, but black & white is better, 2008, tall-lighthouse,
ISBN 978-1-90455115-3-9